


Bittersweet Genesis

by Burrahobbit



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Cultural Differences, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Headcanon, I guess it could technically happen, Revali isn't a complete jerk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 06:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12575860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burrahobbit/pseuds/Burrahobbit
Summary: Zelda's birthday is coming up, and one of the Champions takes it upon themself to plan a party for her.





	Bittersweet Genesis

**Author's Note:**

> This is just mindless fluff with the Champions, really.
> 
> (Title is taken from Bittersweet Genesis for him AND her by Kishi Bashi.)

It's a week before the end of the world when Revali learns that Zelda's birthday is coming up.

"It's a coming of age for Hylians," says Urbosa. "She'll be considered an adult for them."

"It must be frightening for her," Mipha says, having not yet reached adulthood for Zora herself.

"Especially with all this pressure about the sealing power," Daruk agrees.

Revali speaks up. "It's her birthday?"

"She'll be turning seventeen in a week," Urbosa informs him with a sigh. "We'll be going to Mount Lanayru during it, remember?"

"Hylians are so weird," Daruk interjects. "The Goron traditionally have great feats that must be completed during our coming of age. Hylians do nothing."

"What _are_ we doing, then?" Revali asks.

The other three Champions turn their eyes towards him, saying nothing.

"What?" Revali asks incredulously. "I know the Gerudo are famous for their birthday parties. I assumed Urbosa would have _something_ ready."

"We don't usually celebrate birthdays until at least our 50s. We celebrate longevity, not youth."

"And what about you, Mipha? Surely Zora have some traditions related to birthdays."

The fish princess shakes her head. "Zora don't celebrate birthdays. We live so long that to attempt to celebrate even landmarks would be difficult."

Revali looks around the room at his fellow Champions, then rolls his eyes. "It seems like I have to do everything around here, huh?"

He stands and takes his leave.

"What are you doing?" Mipha asks as he goes.

"Throwing a birthday party, apparently."

 

The first thing he needs to do is plan.

Since they'll begin to head towards the mountain the morning of Zelda's birthday, the party will have to be held the night before.

Hyrule Castle has plenty of space, but almost every room has some kind of purpose. It'll likely have to be held in the Dining Hall.

Then there's the problem of Zelda not finding out. Not that she should expect anything - after all, why would Revali do something nice for her?

The bird himself ponders on this question for only a moment. He's only doing this because no one else is bothering to.

Presents, too, need to be bought.

He tells the Champions of his plans and their jobs.

"Besides presents," he tells them, "I'll also need help preparing everything, since we only have a week.

"Urbosa, you'll need to figure out an extravagant menu for the evening and give it to the chefs. Make sure Zelda isn't allergic to anything you include.

"Mipha, you'll be on centerpieces, since your people are famous for their luminous stone structures. It can be as fancy as you wish, but at least put some effort into it.

"Daruk, you'll be on delegation. We need a large tablecloth, the tables set, and waiters to bring in dishes at the right times.

I'll be taking care of the rest. You have one week to complete your duties. The party will be taking place at 7:30 the day before the Princess' birthday."

The Champions give him weird looks, but they do disperse and begin their given jobs.

Revali smiles to himself, then gets to work on his own parts of the celebration.

First things first- the cake.

The royal kitchen is huge, with many chefs buzzing around during mealtimes. Right now, there is nor nearly as much staff inside, the ones that are mostly doing cleaning or beginning to prepare for the next meal.

Revali approaches the head chef confidently, and asks where their baker is.

He's pointed to a short Hylian woman working on icing little cakes for that evening's dessert.

"It's Princess Zelda's birthday next week," he says, "and I'm planning something for the occasion. I'll need one cake, of whatever flavor you think would be best."

"One birthday cake. What size?"

"Small," he answers after a moment of thought. "There won't be too many of us."

"I'll get right on it."

Revali lets her know what time it'll need to be ready, then moves on.

Decorations have to be gathered, so he gets together with Daruk and Mipha to decide a color theme.

"Red might be nice," Mipha suggests softly.

Daruk shakes his head. "Earthy tones will be much nicer. Maybe a yellow here and there to spice things up."

Revali groans. "Blue and white are the obvious choices. They're the Champion's colors."

The other two agree surprisingly easily to his suggestion. Since the luminous stone is usually blue, that makes things easier for Mipha as well.

The table cloths are made a bright white with a blue trim. Revali's decorations follow the same theme.

Next comes his own present for Zelda.

He doesn't know her as well as he probably should, which makes this more difficult than it needs to be.

Despite telling himself that it shouldn't matter too much what he gets her, as long as the other Champions get her worthwhile gifts, he still finds himself deliberating heavily over what choice to make.

He thinks, at first, that clothes would be a good choice, but it seems too impersonal.

Then he thinks maybe a book would be nice, but he has no idea what she would enjoy reading, or who to ask to find out.

Finally, an idea hits him, so obvious he feels stupid.

He goes up to Link, the person he's been avoiding telling about the party, even though he's known he should say something.

Revali explains his idea for a birthday party, and Link agrees that it's a good plan - of course he would say that. All of Revali's plans are great.

Then comes the actual question asking.

"If I were to, say, make a present for the Princess - _hypothetically speaking_ \- it would be nice to know if she would, perhaps, be interested in learning something new."

Link smiles at him. 'She loves learning. If you want to teach her, I'm sure she'd be happy to accept. Hypothetically.'

Revali nods triumphantly.

The last thing he must do, and the most difficult of all, is get everything together without Zelda knowing.

A day before the party is to take place, he convinces Link to take Zelda somewhere else the next day.

"At least until 7:30," the Rito insists. "Otherwise, things might not be ready."

The cooks have been made aware of the meal plan for the evening, thanks to Urbosa, and decorations line the storage, because of him and Mipha. Several of the staff are prepared to help post-dinner rush.

With Zelda out of the castle, the real preparations finally begin, they have to start with the hanging of ribbons and a large hand-made 'Happy Birthday' sign, which Revali and Urbosa take care of.

Daruk and Mipha set the tables, the Zora placing her wonderful center pieces in the correct places.

Only a section of the table will actually be used, but the rest of the long table is still clothed and decorated to keep the aesthetic throughout the whole room.

Each of their presents are placed on a small table behind Zelda's setting at one end of the table. The rest of the Champions' settings are clustered around her's, but it's obvious from the decorations adorning the seat which one is Zelda's.

The sun is beginning to go down when they've finished, slightly earlier than they were expecting to. They've got at least another hour before the Princess is to show, so the Champions relax with their work done.

Revali leans against the wall, feeling tired from rushing around and putting everything together.  
Urbosa walks to stand next to him, towering only slightly intimidatingly.

"Why did you do it?" she asks.

"The party?" he clarifies. _"Someone_ had to."

"But that's the thing, isn't it? You didn't have to." She smiles knowingly. "I'm proud of you for doing this. It's a big step in the right direction."

Revali huffs indignantly. "Don't assume this is going to be a regular thing."

With a hearty laugh, Urbosa says, "Oh, I won't," but it doesn't sound truthful at all.

A guard lets them know that Zelda is coming, and they line up in front of the table. Revali instructs them on what to do, then they wait.

They catch part of Zelda's conversation with Link as she pushes open the door. "I just don't see why I can't take dinner in-"

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!" the Champions cheer.

Zelda starts, looking around the room in awe, her eyes landing finally on the Champions.

"Did... did you all do this for me?"

Mipha is about to open her mouth, but Revali speaks instead, to everybody's surprise.

"It was Urbosa's idea. When she asked for my party planning expertise, I thought, 'how could I refuse?'"

Zelda laughs and says, "I'll take that as a yes," seemingly not noticing the Champions staring at Revali.

He mouths 'what?' to them when he sees, then moves on to the table. The rest follow soon after.

"We all got you presents," Daruk comments as he sits down in a modified stool made just for him. "And cake."

"Thank you all so much for this," Zelda says.

She sits down at the head of the table, with Link and Urbosa on her right, and Mipha, Daruk, and Revali on her left.

Dinner is served, and the table devolves into chatting amongst different people.

Revali stays out of the way, eating his own dish slowly.

He notices Mipha leaning in and whispering something in Zelda's ear, then the Hylian Princess looks right at him.

Crossing his arms, he slumps down in his chair.

Not that he doesn't appreciate people talking about him or anything. He'd just prefer it to be... not right this moment.

Zelda excuses herself quietly, pushing her chair out and standing up.

She rounds the table on the left, stopping when she reaches Revali's seat.

"Yes, Princess?" he asks, sitting up slightly straighter.

Zelda smiles sweetly at him. "A trustworthy source told me that you were the one that arranged this whole thing, not Urbosa."

Feathers ruffled up at the accusation, Revali stays pointedly silent. He hopes it comes off as annoyed instead of him completely blanking on a response.

"I just want you to know that I appreciate it. This party is incredible, and it's really helped get my mind off things."

"Of course it's incredible," says Revali. _"I_ organized it."

Okay, so he's admitted to it, but at least he did it confidently, right?

Zelda lets out a small giggle, then returns to her seat.

Cake is shared - it's delicious, which is to be expected from the royal baker - and then it's time for presents.

Urbosa and Mipha both give her jewelery - the former a Gerudo-made sapphire circlet, and the latter an ornate hair pin inset with opal.

Daruk gifts her plenty of Goron spice, saying that he knows it's hard for Central Hyrule to get it all the way from Death Mountain.

Link's present is a plain but sturdy leather-bound journal and a new ink well.

Revali's own present, as opposed to the others', is large. As Zelda unwraps the paper from it, bit by bit the golden design is revealed.

Fully unwrapped, the bow is a perfect fit for Zelda. It is unstrung, but is perfectly ready to use besides that. Revali made sure of that.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Zelda says softly. She runs her hands over the length of it. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to use it."

"Well, that's no problem," counters Revali, almost nervously. "There happens to be a very skilled archer in this room, if, you know... you ever wanted to learn."

"Are you offering to teach me?"

Zelda looks happy, looking at Revali with hopeful eyes. Immediately, Revali's posture turns more relaxed.

"I know it would be _quite_ the honor to learn from me."

"It would," Zelda agrees, her tone too sincere for the Rito's liking. "After tomorrow, perhaps we could begin lessons?"

Revali nods. "That sounds perfectly doable."

**Author's Note:**

> I know I could have put lots of shenanigans and things going wrong in here, but I just want the Champions to be happy.  
> Is that too much to ask for, Nintendo?!


End file.
